As Justin Brookman of the Center for Democracy and Technology points out, getting privacy wrong was also a death sentence for spyware company Claria and online advertising company NebuAd.

FORBES: News of the World Proves Privacy Violations Can Result in Death Penalty

The Federal Trade Commission held workshops on spyware in April, knocking companies (read Claria and WhenU) for failing to disclose how their software programs glom on to PCs and how they misbehave thereafter.

FORBES: Mr. Manners

Compare that with the Trojan Horse strategies of rivals Claria (once known as Gator) and WhenU: Their software is often embedded in games or screen savers that many people download unknowingly. (The companies insist they give fair warning of what you're downloading in their click-on licenses.) "No need to be obnoxious, " says Keith Smith, 33, who founded 180 in 1999.

FORBES: Mr. Manners